


Heat

by sequence_fairy



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-06
Updated: 2013-05-04
Packaged: 2017-12-07 15:03:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/749867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sequence_fairy/pseuds/sequence_fairy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sudden spike of fever, gone as quickly as it came, and nightmares she can't shake. Gwen and the rest of the Torchwood three team are up against an insidious adversary, and as usual, the fate of the universe is at stake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She’s so hot. She can’t make anything out clearly, she can’t see through the shimmering air around her, and her senses are jumbled and the heat, oh God, she’s so hot. Gwen cries out, and her voice sounds like it’s in a tunnel somewhere far away. Her skin is too tight, and she thinks she should be drenched with sweat, but she’s tinder, dry as dust, waiting for the spark to set her aflame. She stumbles, landing hard against Owen’s desk, scattering his papers. Distantly she can hear the sound of pens tumbling to the floor and Owen reaches out to steady her, letting his monitor topple to the floor. The shattering screen accompanies Gwen’s moan, as she melts to the floor. 

Owen’s eyes go wide, and Gwen has the impression that he’s yelling her name, but nothing makes sense. She feels like she’s boiling over, like there’s a tea kettle inside her brain and she struggles to keep the hysterical scream from rising in her throat. The concrete floor is like ice against her superheated skin, and she sobs in short-lived relief before she sinks once more into the fire.


	2. Chapter 2

Owen springs into action, barking at Tosh to bring him his kit and to Ianto to help him get Gwen to the Med Bay. Between the pair of them, Ianto and Owen get Gwen down the stairs and onto the table. Gwen is mumbling incoherently, her eyes are open but they are wide and unseeing and Owen hisses when he presses the back of his hand to her forehead. Her skin is bone dry and fever-hot and Owen knows he’s got to cool her down and fast. Tosh returns with his field kit and Owen directs her to the kitchen for ice and damp cloths. He and Ianto strip Gwen down to her camisole and lacy pink knickers. Owen hitches in a breath, thrown back two nights to his flat with Gwen, pressed between him and the glass, those pink knickers around her ankles as she shuddered in his arms. He shakes himself, and Ianto raises an eyebrow. Owen briefly considers wiping the look of the sod’s face with his fist, but Tosh returns with the ice and he returns to the task at hand.

Ianto gathers Gwen’s discarded clothes and folds them neatly while Tosh wipes her down with cool cloths and feeds her ice chips. Owen flings open his kit, digging for the thermometer and an antipyretic. He locates the thermometer and slips it into Gwen’s mouth, under her tongue. The thirty seconds it takes to read her temperature are like hours and when the numbers blink steady at 103°F, Owen feels a sick swoop in his stomach and swallows hard then turns to Ianto, “we’ve gotta get this under control. Find a tub or something, and more ice.” 

Ianto disappears up the stairs to find a tub and some more ice, and Owen directs Tosh to keep feeding her ice chips and he readies an IV and a syringe, hoping he can keep her hydrated enough to keep her brain from boiling. Tosh’s sharp call of his name snaps him to attention. Tosh is struggling to hold a thrashing Gwen steady. Owen rolls up a spare lab coat and snugs it under her head, gripping Gwen’s shoulders to keep her from giving herself a concussion on top of whatever has caused the fever. The blood has drained out of Tosh’s face and when Owen catches her eyes they are haunted and dark. The seizure subsides after another heart-stopping couple of minutes and Gwen’s head lolls to the side, her eyes closed and her skin flushed. She’s so still. Owen’s heart clenches, and for a moment he fears the worst, then Gwen draws in a shuddering breath and her eyes snap open, unfocused and wild. 

“No no, nononono,” she moans, “don’t. No don’t! ” The scream that follows sends goosebumps rippling across Owen’s skin and the bottom drops out his stomach. Gwen goes back to mumbling, her voice sounding small and scared. Tosh lets go of Gwen’s hip and brushes her fingers lightly across her forehead. Gwen’s skin is sticky and Tosh carefully wipes her face with a cool cloth, murmuring to Gwen like she’s a child. Gwen continues muttering under her breath and Tosh holds her hand and looks helplessly at Owen. Owen shrugs pushing down the spike of fear in his gut, “fever dreams,” he explains, impressed at how steady his voice is, and moves to stand next to Tosh with the syringe in his hand. Owen quickly draws blood, directing Tosh to hold down the piece of gauze and taking the sample over to his computer to begin the analysis. 

Ianto returns and Owen has to leave the sample to help him bring the tub down the stairs. He fills it with just this side of cool water, and they empty bags of ice into it. Gwen is resting fitfully, mumbling still about how she’s too hot and Ianto and Owen lift her into the tub. Gwen thrashes and cries out as the cool water hits her skin and Owen and Ianto end up soaked. Owen sends Tosh to locate the spare set of clothes that Gwen keeps in her locker and checks Gwen’s temperature again. She’s still steady at 103° and Owen swears low and long. He strips his sodden lab coat off, dropping it in a heap on the floor, and rolls his shirt sleeves to his elbows before cupping some of the cool water into his hands and pouring it over Gwen’s head. She shivers violently and splutters. Her eyes open again, this time focused and aware. 

“Owen,” she says weakly, and Owen nods, brushing her damp fringe off her forehead, “I think I’m sick.”

“No shit sweetheart,” Owen says roughly, “when did you start feeling off?”

“I was fine this morning,” Gwen clears her throat, and Owen reaches out behind him to find that Ianto has acquired psychic abilities in the last 30 seconds as he’s pushing a chilled bottle of water into Owen’s waiting hand. He unscrews the top and passes it to Gwen, who gulps down half the bottle before continuing, “I came in to the hub, was going through my paperwork, and all of a sudden it was like I was on fire,” she stops, gulps down the rest of the water bottle and goes on, “I passed out didn’t I?” she asks and Owen nods, “you destroyed my desk.” 

Tosh returns with Gwen’s clothes and Ianto helps Owen get her out of the tub. She stands shivering in the cool air of the hub and Tosh wraps her in a fluffy towel. He takes her temperature again, and notes that the thermometer reads a much less frightening 100°. Ianto heads upstairs to check the CCTV and the rift monitor, and Owen turns to his workstation to check on the sample. The computer is running it through various tests and looking a myriad of causes for the sudden fever, but nothing yet. He carefully avoids looking over at where Tosh is helping Gwen into a set of stretchy yoga pants and a soft t-shirt. Once Gwen is dressed, he checks her temperature again, satisfied that the fever has broken as suddenly as it came on when the thermometer beeps reassuringly at 98.6°. The seizure has him worried however, and Owen directs Gwen to sit in the lounge and drink a cup of tea. She seems to suffering no ill effects, just a general fragility and instability as she stays close to the railing on the way up the stairs to the main area with Tosh following close behind. His eyes follow the two women, dark and thoughtful.

Later, when Jack has returned from wherever he has been for the day, Owen slips into his office, closing the door behind him. “We had an incident today,” Owen begins and Jack absently motions him to continue, “Gwen collapsed.” That gets Jack’s attention and Owen rushes ahead, “she’s fine now. She had a sudden spike of fever, knocked my monitor off my desk when she fainted and scared Tosh half to death having a seizure. I’ve done all the analysis I can think of on the sample of blood I took from her while she was feverish but the Mainframe couldn’t find anything.”

“You’re sure she’s okay?” Jack asks, leaning back in his chair. Owen shrugged, “I’ve checked her temperature a couple of times since then, she’s reading normally, nothing showed up in her blood sample and she hasn’t had another episode.” 

Jack lets the legs of his chair come to rest on the ground and leans into rest his elbows on his desk, chin in his hands, “you’re not satisfied.” It’s not a question and Owen nods, “something weird happened here, normal fevers don’t come on without warning and there is no way one that severe should have broken that quickly. We’d barely had her in the tub for five minutes when all of a sudden her temperature went down. She wasn’t lucid until then, mumbling about being too hot and feeling like she was on fire.” Jack steeples his fingers together and purses his lips, looking up at Owen, “it’s the seizure that worries me,” Owen begins and Jack nods in agreement, unfolding himself from his chair to stand at the window and look down over the hub. 

Tosh is at her desk, absorbed in something on her computer, headphones in and fingers clacking away at her keyboard. Ianto and Gwen are sitting on the couch in the center, Gwen still wrapped in the fluffy blanket Ianto had dug out after she’d finished her tea, their heads bent together over something on Gwen’s laptop, probably paperwork if Owen had to guess. His workstation is still a disaster, papers and pens scattered on his chair and the floor. The busted monitor lies listlessly off to the side of the room, its screen a shattered wreck. Ianto had helpfully swept up any shards from the floor, but Owen supposes he should organize a little before he leaves.  
Jack’s quiet, thoughtful as he looks down at his team, “anyone else feeling weird?” he asks and Owen shakes his head. Jack steps back from the window and turns to Owen, “I need you to tell me if anything else strange happens.” Owen nods and hearing the dismissal in Jack’s voice, leaves the Captain to his musings.


	3. Chapter 3

Owen’s mobile ringing startles him out of sleep at 3am. He groans and throws an arm over his face, willing the noise to stop. The ringing is shrill in the quiet darkness of his flat and Owen rolls over and scrabbles on the nightstand for his phone. He blinks sleepily at the number, not recognizing it, and clears his throat before answering.

“Dr. Harper?” The caller is male, and sounds concerned, “it’s Gwen, she’s…” the voice trails off and in the background Owen can hear someone, Gwen, he decides, sobbing. Owen’s stomach flips over and he sits up in bed and reaches for the lamp, bathing his room in soft light, “I’m sorry for calling so late, but I didn’t know who else to call and –“

“Rhys? I’m on my way,” Owen is digging through the pile of clothes on the floor beside his bed, cradling the phone against his ear, as he tugs on a pair of jeans and slips his feet into a pair of runners. He can hear Rhys trying to comfort Gwen, and drops the phone onto his bed to pull the least wrinkled t-shirt in the pile over his head, makes a mental note to do laundry sometime in the next century, then grabs the phone again, “Rhys, I’ll be there in ten.” Rhys acknowledges this and Owen disconnects the call, and then dials Ianto. 

Ianto answers, his voice sleep-hoarse and Owen stamps down hard on any residual desire those elongated and husky vowels drag out of him. “Gwen’s having another episode; can you meet me at her flat?” 

“Shall I ring Jack and Tosh?” Ianto asks, and Owen pulls his leather coat on and fumbles the door of his flat closed and slides the lock home. 

“Ring the Hub to let Jack know we’re on our way there,” Owen says as he takes the stairs down two at a time, not having the patience to wait for the lift. He opens the door out to the parking lot and takes a moment to breathe in the crisp cool air. He can hear Ianto fumbling for clothes on the other end of the phone, and the low murmur of voices, plural. He grins, “sorry to disturb you when you have company Ianto.” Owen can almost hear the blush he knows is spreading across Ianto’s face and the other man tells him sharply that he’ll be at Gwen’s flat in ten. Owen disconnects the call, and climbs into his car, flooring the accelerator as he peels out of the parking lot. 

Ianto pulls up to Gwen’s flat in the Torchwood SUV just as Owen is getting out of his car, and not surprisingly, Jack is with him. The three of them walk to her front door together, and as Owen raises his fist to knock, the door is opened by a breathless Rhys. “Come in, she’s upstairs,” he says, pointing behind him as he ushers them in. 

Gwen is still in bed, and clearly in the grip of a nightmare. Her breathing is harsh and ragged, she’s whimpering and as Owen kneels beside her on the floor, she screams. The scream tears through Owen, it’s desperate and desolate, and Jack stumbles back from the bed, like he’s been punched in the gut. Owen gently takes Gwen’s hand, her fingers are like ice, and leans in close, “Gwen,” he says, just barely managing to keep the anxiety turning his guts to knots out of his voice, “Gwen,” he says, more firmly, “Gwen, sweetheart, come on, wake up.” She screams again, this time the sound dying away into a broken whimper. 

“I’ve tried everything,” Rhys is saying to Ianto, “shaking her, yelling. I – I couldn’t get her to wake up, and I didn’t know what to do.” The man is clearly shaken, and when Gwen screams for a third time, but still doesn’t wake, Owen makes up his mind. 

“We’re taking her to the Hub,” he says, and stands, “Ianto, can you get Tosh on the phone and take Rhys down to the Hub? Take my car, Jack and I’ll get Gwen there.” He fishes out his keys and tosses them to Ianto, who catches them and gently leads Rhys out of the room. Rhys looks back over his shoulder, and Owen flashes him what he hopes is a reassuring smile, but knows from the grimace he gets in return that he doesn’t succeed. He turns back to Gwen, who appears to still be asleep. She’s muttering now, and sounds scared. Jack picks her up bridal style and carefully carries her down the stairs and out to the SUV. Owen climbs into the backseat with Gwen, and carefully lays her head on his lap and holds her hand. He’s smoothing the hair back from her forehead when she finally gasps awake, and bursts into hysterical sobs. Jack looks back to the rear seat as Owen gathers Gwen in his arms and holds her close, rubbing her back and murmuring comforting nonsense into her hair as she cries.


	4. Chapter 4

When they get to the Hub, Tosh has arrived and Ianto has helpfully settled Rhys onto the couch with a cup of tea. Gwen is sticking close to Owen, and jumps as the klaxons sound when the door rolls back. She’s pale and shaking, and hasn’t said a word since she woke up. The hysterics have passed, but silent tears slip down her cheeks and Owen feels absurdly protective of her. He’s got an arm wrapped firm around her waist and she’s clutching at his coat, and he knows he’s going to find half-moon dents in the leather from her nails. 

He walks her to the couch where Rhys is sitting, and tries to disentangle himself from her, but Gwen will have none of it and only clings tighter. Owen gives up and sinks down with her onto the couch, putting Gwen between him and Rhys. Rhys leans in, turning Gwen’s face to him with a finger on her chin and smiles gently at her, “good to see you awake, love,” he says and Gwen flinches away from him and curls tighter into Owen. Owen shrugs as best as he is able and Rhys sits back, and sips his tea, “she used to have night terrors when she was a child,” he says, “and she still has the occasional horrid nightmare now. She’s never talked about what she’d dreamed about.” 

Owen leans back, pulling Gwen with him, and tips his head back over the rear of the couch, “Oy tea boy,” he calls and Ianto looks over, one eyebrow raised, “can you get Gwennie a cuppa?” Ianto nods and Owen watches, upside down, as Ianto spikes her tea with something out of the flask he’s dug out of the drawer of Owen’s desk, “pass that here, yeah?” Owen gestures to the flask and Ianto drops it in his lap as he passes Gwen her cup of tea. She doesn’t reach for it immediately, and Ianto sets it down on the table in front of her. Owen takes a swig from the flask, and turns to Gwen, “you need to drink that,” he says, pointing at the mug on the table. Gwen’s eyes flick up to him, and Owen swallows hard against the thousand yard stare that looks back at him from her face. 

Her eyes, normally so lively and friendly, are haunted and there are shadows of the kind of darkness lived that changes a person, and Owen only knows one other with eyes that stare that deeply into your soul. He shudders inwardly and gulps down another swallow from the flask. The whisky stretches warming fingers through his insides and Owen passes the flask to Rhys. Rhys shakes his head and Owen caps it and stuffs it into the pocket of his coat.

Gwen slowly uncurls her hands from where they are bunched into Owen’s coat and reaches out for the mug on the table in front of her. She wraps her hands around it, and seems to come back to herself. A shiver runs through her whole body, and when she picks up the mug, she breathes in the steam. She takes a sip and grimaces, “ugh, what did you put in this?” she asks, “I’d rather have it straight, without the tea,” she adds, and smiles, a true, blinding, Gwen Cooper smile and Rhys snorts into his mug, while Owen cracks a surprised laugh at the sudden release of tension. He catches her gaze, and sees only Gwen staring back at him, and shrugs off his earlier apprehension.

The rift monitor chooses that moment to sound an alarm, and Tosh’s fingers are flying over her keyboard as she checks into the source of the disturbance. Owen groans, but Gwen’s on her feet, no sign of any lingering effects from the nightmare, and she and Jack are leaning over Tosh’s shoulders.

“I’ll take the civilian home then?” Owen asks the room, and Rhys gets to his feet, setting his mug down on the table. Ianto catches Owen’s eye and waggles his keychain, then gently steers Rhys from the room. The thud of the door rolling shut leaves the Torchwood team, minus Ianto, on task. Tosh has pinpointed the source of the disturbance, some 2 miles north, at the University.

“What’ve we got Tosh?” Jack asks, as Gwen helps Owen gather his kit and then Tosh’s.

“Not sure sir,” is Tosh’s reply, as the Rift monitor’s alarms ring again, this time showing the disturbance to be some ways outside of the town proper, “looks like both disturbances are the same energy signature, but I can’t make out what they are.”

“Can you pull up the CCTV?” Jack asks, popping his earpiece in, and pulling the greatcoat on. Owen watches, as the application of The Coat turns Jack Harkness, con-man into Captain Jack Harkness, leader of Torchwood Three. Tosh has pulled up the University’s CCTV cameras, and split them among her monitors, and Owen and Jack survey the screens. A movement catches Owen’s eye, the same moment Jack jabs his finger at the screen, “there!” Tosh isolates the image and faster than Owen can blink, has it on the main screen, and is trying to both sharpen and brighten it. The still frame she’s captured is grainy and since it’s nearing four in the morning, dark. Tosh can only do so much, but she manages more than most, and gives them a view of something vaguely humanoid, skulking in the shadows. Jack delegates and Owen is left with Tosh to check out the university and Jack and Gwen are off to the outskirts of Cardiff to see what they can see there.


	5. Chapter 5

Inside the SUV, it’s quiet. Gwen can hear Jack breathing beside her; it’s controlled and careful, like he’s counting the seconds on the inhale and exhale. She can see by the way his hands grip the wheel like a lifeline that the tension in his shoulders is not all anticipation for the chase ahead of them. She rests her head against the cool glass of the window and watches the city zip by them as Jack drives at his typical maniac pace. 

“What were you dreaming about?” Jack asks, without preamble, and Gwen is startled out of her mental checklist of the items in her field kit. She takes a steadying breath, watching the window fog as she exhales and then turns to him. Jack is staring ahead, watching the road, and Gwen is suddenly grateful he’s not looking at her, expecting an answer, those beguiling blue eyes cajoling her into baring her whole soul.

“All of you,” Gwen answers finally, and Jack turns to look at her, eyes like steel boring into her own. She drops her gaze and shrinks back against the door, remembering another pair of eyes, just like those and a smirk, tinged red with blood and a shadowy feeling of a darkness she can’t quantify. She can feel the colour draining from her face, and her fingers trembling against her thighs. She clenches her hands, and looks up to find that Jack has turned back to the road ahead. She shakes herself, “Jack, pull over would you?” she says, and Jack acquiesces silently.

He kills the engine on the SUV, and they sit, in the quiet pre-dawn light on the side of the road. Jack turns to look at Gwen, and before he can ask, she begins, “since I had the fever, I’ve had these nightmares, horrible nightmares.” Gwen’s voice is hoarse, and Jack leans over to take one of her hands in his. His hands are warm and solid around hers, and Gwen draws in a breath, willing herself to look up into his eyes, “I – “ she begins, stops and looks away, suddenly not sure she can give voice to the terror that has plagued her sleeping hours. 

Jack grips her hands tightly for a second then turns back to the road, “you can tell me when you’re ready,” he says, voice quietly supportive. He turns the key in the ignition and pulls back onto the empty road. 

They arrive sometime later at the spot the Rift monitor indicated to find that it’s a broken down barn on an otherwise empty plot of land. Gwen checks her weapon when she exits the SUV, and they move towards the barn. Jack makes her wait as he sweeps the building, and Gwen wants to snarl at him for treating her like she’s fragile still, but training overrides emotion and she keeps watch for anything coming up on their six. 

Jack sweeps out of the barn, shaking his head, “nothing,” he says, and Gwen nods. Jack’s already on the horn back to the Hub, so Gwen waves to him that she’s going to check the perimeter and sets off around the edge of the barn. She walks with purpose, eyes peeled for anything strange or anachronistic. She’s drawn her weapon, and holds it loosely in one hand, still not used to holding a gun and having it be her first line of defense. She’s always preferred the physicality of a hand to hand confrontation. As she rounds the corner on the north wall, she comes face to face with something out of a nightmare. 

The alien, because what else could it be with skin that colour and eyestalks three feet high, screeches and Gwen’s hair stands on end at the sound. It grates on her ears and startled, she drops her gun. Her scream is stifled in her throat as one of the creature’s hands wraps around her throat and lifts her, her hands scrabbling against its scales for some purchase, trying to dig in and get the thing off her neck. She struggles, flailing out with legs and arms, feeling the breath scrape in her lungs, and burn through her throat. Her vision is tunneling, the white spots are growing larger and the creature just looks at her as her hands fall limp and Gwen succumbs.


End file.
